This culinary education programme, which recently yielded its first group of 26 graduates, called “A si phekeleni impilo” – Let’s Cook for Life, was “assisting the Red Meat Industry in fulfilling its desire to empower, build and certificate a new class of professionally trained individuals,” the RMIF said in a statement.
Dave Ford, chairperson of the RMIF, took the idea of a Red Meat Academy empowerment initiative to SACA last year who embraced it wholeheartedly and designed the nine week course material which is made up of practical and theoretical training and includes a three week placement at a restaurant or catering establishment.
At the Academy’s first graduation ceremony that was recently hosted at the HTA School of Culinary Art in Randburg some of the top performing students were awarded with prizes and the opportunity to attend the National Young Chef Training Programme (NYCTP ) at Capital Hotel School in Pretoria.
Two of the graduates chosen were Lerato Molefe, who was awarded the prize for the top student and Thabang Langa who won the red meat cooking competition in which all the students had to design their own recipe using a cut of red meat.
President of SACA, Stephen Billingham said “I encourage all graduates to keep pushing even when the road gets tough, never give up. Focus on always striving for more. Your journey does not end here”.
